The Office.

My roomie Autumn got the 2nd season of The Office for Christmas. We've been sitting here for the past two hours laughing our heads off.

how have i never seen this? where have i been?

adventures in h mart.

have you ever been here? this place is amazing! i highly recommend checking it out. it is a korean grocery store times 1000. they have a lot of things you'd find at a publix or kroger but they have everything else korean.

the best part are the 'stores' along the walls cooking up some good korean barbeque or sushi. yum.

guess what!

i'm not going to church tomorrow.

don't tell anyone.

sometimes

i hide.

hide from my dreams.
myself.
others.
God.

i'm tired of hiding. but sometimes no matter how tired you are of something, you don't know where to begin to change.

i cant

sleep.

i'm starting to go crazy. what's up with this? i need to get off this computer and at least try...but i have this feeling i'll just lie in bed wide awake. (is that the proper usage of lie? is it lay? i've never gotten that right...)

what to do...?

might as well be productive right...i have some laundry to do.

all of you in dreamland right now...i'm not a fan.

i'm...

bored.

yep...sometimes it doesn't take much.

i don't want to watch tv...i've noticed that it drains me.

i don't feel like reading...i might learn something and i'm not in the mood for that. (jk)

i cannot call anyone...everyone's asleep. (where are all my night owl friends these days)?

i don't want to write a new song...i'm not inspired right at this exact moment...i cannot even write a decent blog right now.

i cannot take a drive with no destination in mind...because...well, really i don't have a reason for that other than i just washed my car and i'm trying my hardest to keep it clean. (who knows the next time i'll actually take the time to do that again...sorry Junior). (editor's note: no lakes were harmed in the cleaning of Junior. i went to a "we use recycled water" place. A+ for me).

my only choice left...

off to bed i go.

lights. home. birds. and other such things.

one of my favorite things to do Christmas Eve is to drive around looking at lights. we didn't do that this year. my family is really odd...have i mentioned that yet? more on that later...

but i love them. they make me laugh...which doesn't take much really so i don't know if that says a lot either way.... ;)

i have a handful of pictures but i forgot that cord thingy at home. (i'm sure it has a technical name for it but naming it cord thingy suites me just fine...) :)

i grew up in the country back roads of the suburbs. we weren't in the boonies, but we weren't in the suburbs exactly. at the time i hated it. all i could think about then was graduating and getting to the city....which is exactly what i did. but now, i find myself longing to be back in the country...and other times i need the city...do i even know what i want? i don't, but God does...so i'll go with his lead. anyway..my mom and step-dad still live in the house i grew up in...i love that. my room still looks like it did when i was 15...which as you can imagine, is quite scary. i have decided not to change it because it helps remind me of who i was...what God has done...and what He is capable of still doing in my life.

so i was sitting outside on the front porch with my step-dad as he was smoking his cancer sticks...not really taking. earlier he told me about these pheasants that they've been feeding in the front yard. i was hoping to catch a glimpse of them...not really realizing what the big deal was...or realizing that they wouldn't come up until we were out of sight. Later, my mom came rushing into the kitchen telling me to come to the window. i looked out and saw two of them eating on the food my parents put out for them. they were so beautiful. their colors blew me away. i could have sat there for hours watching them move gracefully around the yard. we cannot figure out how they got in the area...maybe they were someone's pets. but supposedly, they aren't indigenous to the area... Either way, i'm on the hunt for them now. i accidentally scared them away trying to get a picture...i tried to sneak up on them as they ran away but they were too fast for me. slippery suckers!

so the hunt continues...only to shoot their picture of course... :)

write every line

for your Glory.

i heard a song today at church that i had forgotten about. as soon as i heard the first few lines i was reminded of how i felt the first time i heard it. do you know what i'm talking about? have you ever had that happen before...not necessarily a song...could be a scent, an image...anything really. but whatever it is, as soon as you hear/taste/see/feel it, all of those original feelings come flooding back.

i remember when i first heard this song, my heart wanted to scream, "yes God. write every line of my story. don't let me pick up that blasted pen! i'm tired of my ink running out."

forever
you are the God of my story
write every line for your Glory
breathe on me


but i must tell of the best part of the song today...it didn't come in the form of a note or who sang it or a specific instrument...
as i was singing, i noticed a mom with her three kids in front of me. she had the youngest in her arms so she could see better. she was a sweet girl about three with the most beautiful curly hair. i could see her smiles at her mom with pure joy as worship enveloped the room. at the end of the song, the lyrics are sung softly and are
breathe on me
breathe on me.

each time, the little girl got really close to her mom and breathed really hard on her. I could not stop laughing.

that was the best part of my day.

see what procrastination gets ya?

this is me last night...late...late into the night. i had put off getting a few presents that i need for saturday. notice the crazed look in my eye and my crazy hair...no wonder i had odd looks from the folks at the store earlier that night.



but..it was all worth it! :) i have found out that i love shopping for kids! i had so much fun in the toy section. they have some cool stuff these days....and they are still holding on to some classics...very nice! i kept picking things up..i couldn't control myself. i added it all up before i got to the register...it was well over what i was supposed to buy. oops. I had to put back a couple of things. my budget wasn't having any of that..i say this very lightly seeing how i hate budgets and normally don't follow one...yes i know i need to go through crown. yeah, yeah.

so, if you don't have a little kid around you to shop for at Christmas...find one. you'll have a blast!

i was reading...

the passion blog just now and felt God stirring my heart by what louie wrote. for those of you who were at the passion conference last january, you'll understand why this resonates with me. something happened there that rocked the hearts of thousands. God wrecked the lives of students and volunteers in a way that cannot be ignored or denied. there are moments in our lives where God makes His presence so known to you that it can give you an undeniable assurance of His magnitude and Love. when i have doubts...i think of those moments when i was sure beyond a doubt.

here louie was a hockey game...this is where the conference took place.


"And I was wondering who sat in section 223, row H, seat 4. Assuming the same person didn't sit in this seat for every session, that means there are seven of you 223/H/4 people from Passion 06 out there in the world tonight. I can't stop thinking about you and wondering. Wondering if you're still going with Him. Wondering if you sense His presence. Wondering if you still believe that His fame is worth your life. Wondering if you can still feel the roar of thousands, and know that wherever you are tonight you are not alone. Wondering if you're a part of the growing wave, a generation that is seeking to bring hope, truth, justice and freedom to people all around the globe in Jesus' name.

I pray that's the case tonight, for more than buildings full, the hope of Passion is people changed. People who are somewhere in the world tonight seeking Jesus and spending their days to make Him famous."


no words can express what i feel right now. my heart is so full of Him in this moment.

Father, i pray you continue to wreck the lives of those students...wreck them for you and for your Fame. give them a holy confidence...teach their hearts to beat like Your's. help them to show mercy even when their flesh tells them the opposite.
amen.

i have...

some of the best friends in the world. here's one. esther is the wisest woman i know. she keeps me in check. anytime i have a crazy idea (which is often), she brings me back down to reality...reminds me about patience, perseverance, and contentment.

thank you God for the people you've placed in my life to reflect your love for me.

this is...

my brother. he's 13...14 in two days. he lives with my dad in minnesota...poor thing…oh so cold.

i wasn't around from when he was three up until he was 11. i missed a lot. that makes my heart break. when i saw him for the first time in eight years, i was afraid he wouldn't like me...what did an 11 year old boy have in common with his 20-something sister? this wasn't like getting some random middle-schooler to like me...this was my brother. i wanted so badly to connect with him...

how my God provides for me...how He provides. a few months ago when i saw wes, he was teaching me some football moves or plays...or whatever it is called (you can tell i'm a huge fan of football huh?) ;). And while we were doing that, i kinda half mentioned that it would be cool if he visited me so we could go to a falcons game. he jumped on the idea! and even went on to say he'd love to come visit me this summer for a week or so...i was blown away! do 13 year old boys want to hang out with their 25 year old sister...that they didn't really know until two years before? I cannot describe how that felt.

so...i pray his mom will let him come visit me. i'm not sure if she will.

no matter what the outcome...God provides! remember that.

white elephantin it

I love these gals.

And only you...

can see the good
In broken things...

this is what i was doing...

instead of painting the wall.

i haven't painted many walls in my day..i've never been the redecorating type, but that was a blast! Natalie just bought a condo right down the road from Autumn and me. Ashley and i came over along with Natalie's childhood friend and her granny and mom. Let me say that granny was as blast! she invited us to come over for dinner one day. Please believe i jumped at the invitation. i love me some home-cooked meals by grandmas....and i love their company.




Ashley and i tackled this evil closet...and it went down! imagine two of us with tape, paint and tired bodies trying to make that closet look beautiful. of course my big booty left a few marks on the wall but that was fixed immediately...sorry natalie!

by the end of our night, i had paint all over my pants, hands, feet, and hair. But, i think you're not doing it right if you don't have paint everywhere. thank goodness she is planning on redoing the floors...they weren't immune to Mission: Kelli Make a Mess.

this is...

my mom. i love her a lot. she's amazing.

laughing with old friends

my amazing friend dawn from college is in town from Los Angeles this weekend for her dad's 60th birthday. she's like a sister to me...no matter how much time passes between seeing each other, i never feel like we were apart. i love that about our friendship.

we went to apre diem tonight for dinner and coffee. i love that place. our freshman year in college, we found it by accident. this was before it was all the rage. this was when you could show up on a friday night and have no problem getting a couch in the back. these days you practically have to bribe a waitress or sell a kidney to get a seat back there.

we met up with malcolm our other friend from college. it was so great catching up with him...reminiscing...

the stories started pouring out...things i had forgotten about. man were we stupid then! we went to school downtown and sometimes when i think of the places we went and the trouble we caused, i wonder how in the world we survived...

it seems so long ago. i was a completely different person then...and yet at the same time not. i still have some of the same struggles...fears...dreams...hopes. some are slightly modified. and some are almost exactly the same. God has taught me so much since then, but sometimes i think i revert back to my old way of thinking. it takes that constant renewing of the mind for me to get back on track. some days that renewal is easier than others. it makes me wonder if there are some things that will always be a struggle...a torn in my side. but honestly, i think that's a cop out. i think that's placing God in a teeny, tiny box...and telling Him that He isn't bigger than "this" or "that." anything can be overcome with Him. anything...believe it. know it. and most importantly, live like you're the son or daughter of a GOD who can do anything...including overcoming one our worst enemies...ourselves.

there's something about...

the airport that i love. the convergence of lives maybe…

you experience the warmest of smiles, the largest of tears, the bear hugs, and the not-so-appropriate kisses as well as the ever appropriate “airport kiss.” i love it. the possibilites race through my mind. each with their own story… the old man with the newspaper and a cup of coffee waiting for his connecting flight to omaha…or maybe st. paul. who’s waiting for him at that airport? who’s waiting to give him the ‘not-so-appropriate’ airport kiss?

what about the woman with the stroller…and the two other kids running circles around her. she looks exhausted. but will she get any sleep at home? home sweet home, right?

i like to listen to the converstaions around me in another language. sometimes i make up what they might be talking about. some heated discussion about global warming or maybe they’re really just talking about britney spears being pregnant again. she’s international you know.

tomorrow in the wee hours of the morning (4:30am to be exact) i get to go to this 8th wonder of the world and sit and enjoy while one of my dearest friends arrives.

i wonder what story someone will be making about our lives as we run, scream, laugh, skip across the airport.
(more like, what will security think…)